John's Dilemma
by Snowgoose1070
Summary: John just can't figure out how to handle this problem.  Maybe Bobby can help?


Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is a complete one-shot.

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Bobby heard the engine of the Impala as it drove up the dusty road to his junkyard, and, wiping his hands on a dirty rag, walked out on his porch to give a welcoming smile to the family he considered himself a part of.

"Hi, Bobby!" Voices called as the doors popped open almost before the car had been put in park. Bobby's smile widened to a grin as he took in the Winchesters, looking ragged but in a good mood as usual. Dean, the oldest at 21, came up first and shook Bobby's hand. He walked stiffly, as all of the ribs on his left side had been cracked in the last hunt, in addition to his left wrist being sprained fairly badly. The hunt had been a bad one, a wendigo, and the main reason the Winchester clan was coming to stay with him was to recuperate. John said he needed Bobby's help for something else too, but wouldn't talk about it over the phone. Bobby figured it concerned the yellow eyed demon, murderer of John's wife and never far from his mind.

Following his brother, Sam, 17, limped up the steps, duffle bags in hand. He was favoring his left side as well. He had been standing next to Dean when the wendigo had come and slammed his knee and hip, and got Dean in one faster-than-the-eye-can-see movement. Luckily, the creature had been fleeing and had only had time to get the boys in passing, or the two may have been injured much worse. Sam gave Bobby a half hug, and proceeded inside to drop the bags off in the room they always stayed in when they visited.

Next, two arms were flung around Bobby's midsection in a full out hug. Bobby smiled down at Daphne, 18, a girl who had been orphaned by the yellow eyed demon three years before. She had no other family and was still in danger from demons, so John had figured it would be easier to have her stay with them and train to protect herself instead of leaving her for dead. It was an uncharacteristic decision, to say the least, but one look in her wide, haunted eyes and John couldn't leave her behind. Also, she had inherited her parent's savings, life insurance, and had sold the house and pocketed that money, so the Winchesters had much better gear than they had before. The beneficiary of her parent's will and insurance, her godfather, had lost contact with her parents many years before and her parents had never gotten around to changing the paperwork. One fake ID later, and John Winchester took control of that money. While they still relied on credit card scams and gambling for their main source of income, extra money stored away in case of an emergency was welcome.

The addition of a female to the Winchester's nomadic lifestyle was anticlimactic. Daphne learned quickly, kept her head down and listened to orders. She loved hunting, like Dean, was almost the same age as Sam, and had revenge burning in her heart like John. She also turned out to be invaluable when talking to police, CPS, teachers, and other information sources. People didn't see that the baby faced girl was lying through her teeth, and she had a knack in getting what she wanted in record time.

Red haired like her cartoon namesake (much to Dean's teasing delight), she had some bruises and extensive road rash covering her shoulders and upper back, visible through her tank top, but other than that seemed structurally sound. Bobby, however, frowned and made a production of looking over the marks on her skin.

"Aw, what happened? You know you have to be careful out there, sweetheart. Aren't John and the boys watching out for you?" He asked. John, who had walked up, rolled his eyes. Dean and Sam, who had returned from dropping the bags off, sputtered.

"Are you kidding, Bobby? I have broken bones here, and Sam's limping," Dean whined. Bobby raised his eyebrows at the boy.

"Girls are delicate, boy. You should've just gotten out of the way faster, wendigo or no." Dean continued to sputter and mutter to himself.

Daphne gave Bobby a huge smile. "Bobby, that's nothing as you know it! Stop teasing the boys. Anyway, you should've seen it. So I was walking through the forest, bait right, and BAM! Suddenly I'm waking up in the pitch black dark, hog-tied in a corner. Hog-tied! I swear I breathed in a lungful of dirt. Ha, so bait to victim in one second. I'm thinking, shit, way to go guys-" At this point, John interrupted her.

"Ok, he gets the picture. You can give him more details later. I have to talk to Bobby about something, so you go get some fresh air, ok?" Daphne smiled at John while the boys gave each other a look behind her back, clearly wondering what John had to talk to Bobby about.

"Ok, Dad. Let's go, princesses!" Dean said gaily, leaving Sam scowling at the jab but following all the same. The trio disappeared around the corner of the house to the grassy hill in Bobby's backyard, the place they always hung out on when they visited.

Bobby indicated John to enter the house, and got them both a beer as they settled on the couch. After a few minutes of silence, Bobby realized he'd have to start the conversation. "So, John, what's on your mind?"

John rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. "I just don't know what to do with this, Bobby. Usually, I see a problem, see the solution, make the decision and don't look back." He suddenly jumped up and started to pace. A minute later he started in again. "I thought bringing Daphne along would've been a real problem. I mean, voluntarily take on another 15 year old? I must've been crazy. But she turned out great, holding the family together when probably nothing else would've. She helped Dean with his responsibilities, and calms Sam through his temper tantrums. Hell, she patches us up better than a battlefield nurse." He grew quiet again.

Bobby tried to prod him to the problem again. Even he knew that the girl had been a blessing in disguise to the Winchesters, who frankly had been on a path to destruction previously. So why the belated worry in having the girl travel with them? "John, does this concern the yellow eyed demon? Is it after Daphne again?"

John gave a short bark of laughter. "I wish. That would be so much easier. There's no questions there, no thinking involved. Not like this- do I do what the conventional father would do? But what about this family at all is conventional? The kids are mature for their age, should I just let them make their own decisions? This is so much worse than when Dean started tom catting around with all the girls at the schools- all I had to do then was give him the condom speech and let him at it."

Bobby was still bewildered as to what the problem was. "Is that it, John? Did Dean get a girl in trouble?"

John's pacing, which had slowed, sped up again. "No. In fact, Dean hasn't been acting like that for months. I haven't even seen him look at a cheerleader, a waitress, nothing!" He looked up and met Bobby's eyes, anguish lurking in his gaze. "I just feel so helpless, Bobby. Like I need to make a decision, but no matter what I do nothing will change the outcome."

At this melodrama, something that was not characteristic with his old friend a bit, Bobby finally lost his patience. "John, what are you talking about? I'm sick of your rambling," he gruffed out, putting his beer down with a clink on the table.

Instead of answering, John went to the window and stared out. He ran a hand through his hair, and with the same hand pointed to something outside. Bobby stood up and stood beside the other man, looking out to see why John had rushed his family down to his house, and why he couldn't talk about it over the phone.

The three young hunters lay in the grass, in the shade of a large oak tree. Dean had his back against the tree, eyes closed, running a hand absentmindedly through Daphne's hair. She was on her back, head on Dean's stomach and hand on his bent knee. Sam was flipped over on his stomach, face pressed in Daphne's belly, and arm pressed close to her, woven in between her legs, under her thigh closest to him, causing her knee to be slightly bent, and over the other thigh, letting his hand rest on her far hip.

As the two men watched, Sam nuzzled her stomach in a kiss and Daphne slowly drew her hand from Dean's knee up his leg, disappearing from view as it travelled up his inner thigh. His eyes didn't open, but his fist tightened visibly in Daphne's bright colored hair. The way all three were curled up with each other spoke of an intimacy that suggested no matter what John decided to do about it, he was far too late.

"Ah, shit," Bobby said.

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This silly little thing was swimming in my head. I'm not going to write more on it, probably, and may not even keep it up unless people really seem to like it (wasn't going to post it at all, but I'm strangely proud of it). I know John seems ooc, but hey, it's supposed to be funny to have such an unflappable guy so freaked out. What would your dad say?

PLEASE REVIEW AND I'LL LOVE YOU!

Does anyone know of a multi chaptered Dean/OC/Sam fic? Or even other one-shots? Because that would be lovely!


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